Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) promised to submit legislation to increase the speed of the state’s election reporting after it was the last state in the union to declare the the winner of its presidential election on Saturday, when it confirmed President-elect Donald Trump will receive Arizona’s 11 electoral votes.
Petersen made the pledge in a post to the social media platform X, where he wrote that Senators Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff), JD Mesnard (R-Chandler), and Shawnna Bolick (R-San Miguel) will receive help from Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd to craft “the best legislation possible for introduction in January.”
Noting Arizona was called last, Petersen wrote, “This can never happen again. My call to move up election results is gaining a lot of support.”
The Republican leader added that even Republicans who previously “opposed moving up results in the past are now saying they will support.”
Petersen previously called for reform to Arizona’s election reporting in another post to X, made after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed with the Arizona Supreme Court to request even more time for state ballots to be cured, reportedly claiming on Saturday there were are still ballots in Arizona that have yet to be processed.
He also authorized the Arizona Senate to take legal action to enforce existing election laws until they can be changed.
“The left is suing to extend the time to determine the election. I just authorized the AZ Senate to intervene and defend existing law so we can determine the outcome as soon as possible,” wrote Petersen. “It has already taken too much time! And next session we will re-introduce bills to get election results, night of.”
Rogers signaled her support for the move, and noted her past efforts to reform Arizona’s elections, as she shared Petersen’s pledge.
